Delivery box system and reserving method and charging method therefor

Abstract

A delivery box system for delivering an article is providing, including a navigation device for sending and receiving reservation reguests and information, payment information, navigation execution ID information and position information of a particular related delivery box from a central computer of a central management center. The navigation device automatically calculates navigation information based on the navigation execution ID information, as well as guides the deliveryman from the present position thereof to the particular related delivery box based on the position information of the related delivery box received from the central computer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a delivery box system such as a mail box (including a post office box), a home delivery box, a cleaning box, a coin locker, and the like for delivering an article, and to a reserving method and a charging method making use of the delivery box system.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Heretofore, as arts for guiding a route to lockers, there is an art in which a reception device and lockers are installed in a station yard, and a route from the reception device to a loker to be used is guided by a guide section provided in the reception device, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-140632 (hereinafter, referred to as patent document 1).[0005]In contrast, as arts for reserving an empty box, there is proposed a system for causing a deliveryman and the like to reserve an empty box of a home-delivered article accommodation locker installed in complex housing ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]According to the above arrangement, when a user transmits the ID information through the mobile phone, the ID information from the mobile phone is checked against the ID information previously registered in the memory disposed to the unlocking control means or to the computer of the central management center, and when the former ID information coincides with the latter ID information, only a user, who is allowed to unlock the delivery box, can easily unlock it.

[0057]According to the above charging method, since the reservation fee and the time-based usage fee can be charged to the box-reserving person (article-receiving person) and the initial fee for using the delivery box can be charged to the article-leaving person, the fees can be charged to various persons, which can reduces the expense born by the box-reserving person (article-receiving person) and contributes to prevent a prank.

Problems solved by technology

Accordingly, when a deliveryman of an article and a person who receives an article are different from a person who leaves the article, there arises a troublesome problem in that the deliveryman or the article-receiving person must search the location where the lockers and the reception device are installed referring to a map based on an address and the like the deliveryman or the article-receiving person gets from the person who leaves the article.

Thus, it is impossible for outsiders to use the locker as article-receiving persons or deliverymen.

Furthermore, since persons who leave or receive an article in or from the accommodation locker, can ordinarily use it at no charge, the inhabitants or the owner of the apartment house cannot help bearing the expenses necessary to buy and maintain the accommodation locker.

Further, since a space in which the locker is installed must be acquired in a narrow entrance of the apartment house, it is difficult to additionally install a home-delivered article accommodation locker in an existing apartment house.

Moreover, in a system which unilaterelly is reserved or used by a deliveryman, a trouble is liable to occur because it is difficult to certify that an article-receiving person previously accepts to use a locker as a place where an article is delivered each time it is delivered, and further there is a problem in that a usage fee of the locker cannot be charged to the article-receiving person.

In this case, when it is not apparent whether or not an article-receiving person receives an article, the person who leaves the article must go to the locker and collect the article, which naturally makes it impossible to employ a time-based usage fee system.

However, since it is not directly notified to an article-receiving person and to an article-leaving person that the baggage is kept in the locker or taken out therefrom, smooth delivery of the baggage cannot be guaranteed.

Since there is not a system which allows to keep an article in a delivery box based on article delivery conditions including a payment condition to an article and to unlock the delivery box when it is confirmed that the article delivery conditions are fulfilled, it is impossible to use a locker for an article which must be delivered on the condition of cash on delivery.

That is, these arts are disadvantageous in that since there is not a guide to the location where a usable box is installed, users such as a box-reserving person, a article-leaving paerson, a deliveryman, and an article-receiving person, who are not familiar with the location of the usable locker, must search it using a map, an address, and the like presented on the Internet, and this searching job is troublesome and time-consuming.

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